November 2, 2012

..On a Serious Note

The Jersey shore I grew up going to pre-Sandy.

It's no secret to any one of my friends that I'm a Jersey girl. I grew up on the beaches of Monmouth County and have such great memories from my childhood spent at beach clubs and boardwalks. My high school years were spent wearing bikinis under our clothes during finals so we could head straight to the shore after that last test, I relished the last summer at home before moving to DC after college with my sister catching rays (photo above), and annual family hangouts at Donovan's Reef beach bar, laughing at the establishment's notorious threat that it would be it's "last year" in business to get patrons to cash in each summer, which is now just a pile of wood and sand in the wake of the hurricane.

Sandy has absolutely devastated the area I grew up in. You can see what has happened to the very street (Ocean Avenue) that I am happily driving on in the photo above in this video. The street which is now covered in sand is no longer visible.

My family still has no power, and people are waiting in mile long lines at their local stations in hopes of procuring gasoline. Everything is closed and hundreds of places along the shore I love will have to be torn town and rebuilt. Please keep everyone in the NJ/NY area in your prayers and if you can, please donate to the Red Cross so we can get these businesses and homeowners back on their feet.

R.I.P. Donovan's.

..On a Serious Note

9 comments
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:( I still can't believe this. We were blessed enough to not get hit by me but my Dad was without power for days and LBI (my home) is a huge disaster... it's unbelievable, heartbreaking and overwhelming but we're all going to get through this Er and the shore will be better than ever. Love you.

I'm SO sad about what happened in NJ. I'm so happy that I got to visit the Jersey shore this summer for the first time and experience it in all it's glory :) I do know one thing about that town, they are full of strong people and I know they will be able to rebuild! But I will keep them and your family especially in my heart during this hard time. I only lost power for a day... I can only imagine :( XOXO

Jersey Shore got hit so bad.. I feel so bad for everyone that lost their homes and loved ones. I live closer to Manhattan and right now the big problem is electricity and gas. I still dont have power at home and have been hopping to different houses with power all week.

Gosh, I am so sorry you have to see your home go through this. It must be so hard. America is behind you, and it will rebuild. I know its hard to see but sometimes major disasters like this will bring everyone closer and you will rebuild even stronger then you were before. The magnitude of what your town and family is going through does not compare to the story I am about to tell you, but its a story of hope and rebuilding. When I was younger my first job was working at a townie restaurant serving ice cream. One day I was scheduled at 5:00 but instead of scooping ice cream at 5 I was watching the place being destroyed by fire. This was a family owned restaurant and the family was just devastated. Not only did the restaurant serve has a a place to eat but behind it was were all our cooks lived in an apartment. They were not from america and one of them had bank accounts. Everything, and every dollar they owned were in the apartments that were destroyed by the fire. Everyone wanted them to rebuild but there were some legal battles with the location. Well the restaurant came back stronger in a different location with virtually the same staff. I strongly believe that is what is going to happen with NJ. You will come back and be even stronger then you were before. You are in my thoughts! :(

We're donating loads right now, it's horrible what nature can do to you when people call it "mother" nature which gives the impression that its there to look after you! I will try and get more people to donate more

I'm so sorry darling! My family live on the Lower East Side and our area was hit pretty hard too. Our car was completely totaled, our building flooded, and my family won't be getting gas/water/heat/electricity for another week AT LEAST. All this damage is so devastating. I'm glad both of our families are physically okay though.